captains dead

keep on forgetting to mention that summer’s kiss, the definitive site all things dulli, the afghan whigs, twilight singers, etc, has just released an afghan whigs tribute record featuring the likes of lanegan, joseph arthur, matthew ryan, susan marshall and host of others. click here for all the details.

i used to listen to the apples in stereo just about every day, for quite a while. when i mean a while, i mean probably a few years. i loved the hell out of their first three records, fun trick noisemaker, tone soul evolution and her wallpaper reverie. then they for some reason fell out of favor with my ears and its been probably 8 years since i listened to any of their records. as soon as i get off work im going to put on at least one of em, probably fun trick noisemaker. here they are at berbati’s pan, portland, or on 3.26.07. grab the flac version here, and thanks to yltfan for the recording.

1. intro
2. can you feel it
3. please
4. go
5. energy
6. do you understand
7. strawberry fire
8. sun is out
9. play tough
10. rainbow
11. same old drag
12. whats the #
13. skyway
14. radiation
15. open eyes
16. i cant believe
17. break no 1
18. ruby
19. break no 2
20. tidal wave

mr scott kannberg aka spiral stairs where the hell have you been for the past 5 years? living off those high dollar pavement royalty checks that float your way every month? oh so i see it says you’ve hangin out in melbourne for a while. not to sure how long “awhile” is but hey its your life, you do what you want, i suppose. well, im glad you’re back and happen to be bringing with you your first “bona fide” solo release which you are calling the real feel, which is due out on matador on 10.20. check the matador blog post that talks about the album in length, but briefly. btw, im psyched….

maltese terrier

stating the obvious in 3,2,1… we’ve hit that pivotal mid year point, time to start separating the good records from the bad, the great records from the downright shitty. like any music dork worth his weight in beat to shit concert t’s, i must take a personal inventory in what has been turning me on thus far. i gotta admit, its been a pretty great year. so great, in fact, that i could probably come up with a really solid top 20 at this point, but i wont. what i do have for ya though is my top 7 of the year, at this point. only caveat is is that they are in no particular order, cause as of right now anyone of these could potentially be my favorite of the year.

so far there’s been two real surprises. the first being magnolia electric co’s josephine which is just a wonderful record, definitely on par with some of his best work ie songs:ohia’s magnolia electric co and didnt it rain. i have complained in the past about his quality control issues, and this record only solidifies that view point, me thinks.

second surprise, although it really should come as no surprise, at least to me, is dinosaur jr’s farm. i guess i just wasnt expecting it to kick ass much ass as it does. its classic dino jr, nuff said.

dawes myspace

when my time comes
that western skyline via daytrotter

magnolia electric co site

josephine

dinosaur jr site

i want you to know
stream farm in its entirety on their myspace page

justin townes earle myspace

what i mean to you
mama’s eyes

jason isbell site

seven mile island

roadside graves site

far and wide
ruby

william elliott whitmore site

old devils

you know what you are getting yourself into when you happen upon a david yow related recording, i think that’s fair to say. i hate to pigeonhole the guy, but its the truth. he’s got a newer band called qui. they put out a record last year, or the year before, that i didnt listen to – it is called loves miracle, btw. well, they have a new one coming out, that i will hopefully listen to, called penuce sometime in ‘10. this track, “prison braid” is off their recently released 7″ on infrasonic sound, which is a studio as well as a label as it turns out.

prison braid

the beauty of willy vlautin’s songs for his band richmond fontaine is that the he creates worlds. these worlds are filled with characters and just like any world with characters, they have issues and get themselves into fucked up situations. he makes it so you get involved, or maybe even care about these ne’er do wells and lovable losers in the 3+ minute glimpses into their respective universes. he’s bar-none one of the best songwriters performing today, and if not of the last 20 or so years.

also, as a reminder remember to check out their new single, “you can move back here” from their upcoming trash aesthetics 7″ of the same name. look for their new record later this year. btw, has anyone read any of his books? been meaning to, but dammit if life dont get in the way. i believe i read that one of his books, the motel life, is getting made into a movie.

here they are performing at the doug fir lounge in portland, or in 06.

1. welhorn yards
2. exit 194b
3. laramie wyoming
4. dont look and it wont hurt
5. disappeared
6. the warehouse life
7. black road
8. barely losing
9. through
10. hallway
11. montgomery park
12. post to wire
13. havent got forever
14. making it back
15. always on the ride
16. the janitor
17. casino lights

hey hey looks who’s back with a new record! polvo is releasing their first record in 12 years on merge called in prism which is due out on 9.8. thus far they have a few tour dates lined up, with more supposedly going down in the fall. check out this page for the as of now tour dates. in the meantime, here’s the first single.

beggars bowl

i dont know how many shows are happening tonight in america, but im guessing hundreds, if not a thousand? if i were to forced to pick just one to hit up, i would have to choose the one that is goin on at the earl this very evening. the night features cory branan, drag the river’s jon snodgrass and lagwagon’s joey cape – if only they were making their way to new orleans. sigh…. seriously this has the potential to be a classic show. if you are in atlanta, hit this up. what else you got going on? two of the tracks, and you can guess which ones, are only streamable at request of their publicist – definitely still check em out.

the tour dates are below

cory branan myspace
the walk around w/ jon snodgrass – off an upcoming split release

tall green grass off 12 songs

jon snodgrass/drag the river myspace
song for jake nichols to sing
jj’s drivin – off drag the river’s bad at breaking up
death of the life of the party – off you cant live this way

joey cape of lagwagon myspace
this is the last train – off an upcoming split vinyl release

errands off bridge

get there early, if you do go, cause atlanta’s own ben trickey is opening up the night’s festivities. heres a couple of tracks from various recordings…

soldier
saving grace (how you doin)
cheap wine and cigarettes

while i was on the suburban home site, i figured i would offer up one of my favorite tracks from last year, in case you missed it.
your humble narrator off two cow garage’s most excellent speaking in cursive

Sun. 6/21 – Atlanta, GA : The Earl
Mon. 6/22 – Savannah, GA : The Jinx
Tue. 6/23 – Jacksonville, FL : Jack Rabbits
Wed. 6/24 – Gainesville, FL : Common Grounds
Thu. 6/25 – Tampa, FL : New World Brewery
Fri. 6/26 – Orlando, FL : Will’s Pub
Sat. 6/27 – Lake Worth, FL : Propaganda
Sun. 6/28 – New Smyrna Beach, FL : Beachside Tavern
Tue. 6/30 – San Antonio, TX : Rock Bottom
Wed. 7/1 – Houston, TX : Walter’s On Washington
Thu. 7/2 – Dallas, TX : Double Wide
Fri. 7/3 – Denton, TX : Andy’s Bar
Sat. 7/4 – Austin, TX : Red 7 (Punk Rock BBQ)